Light and shade rituals in cinema and society
Beneath the protective wing of the highest mountain in Europe, Mont Blanc, since 1993, “Noir in Festival” has celebrated the social and cinema rituals of this literary genre. The Festival has found its ideal setting in Courmayeur, the prestigious ski resort. The event, usually staged around 8 December, with screenings at the Conference Centre, and meetings held in the centralGrand Hôtel Royal & Golf.Since 2001, a new structure, the Palanoir, has played host to competition films and special events.
The Noir in Festival programme includes a section dedicated to cinema “noir” (films, documentaries and meetings with actors and directors); the other section is dedicated to literature (presentation of books and meetings with writers).Every year the Festival presents a career award, dedicated to Raymond Chandler, to a great mystery writer (so far including: G. Greene, L. Sciascia, E. McBain, J. Le Carré, J. Grisham e M. Vasquez Montalban).The award for the best “noir” novel of the year is named after Giorgio Scerbanenco, while the Cinema Valle d’Aosta award is presented
to the best film.
Noir in Festival has included the participation of famous personalities, including: K. Kieslowski, M. Von Trotta, F. Forsyth, G. Pontecorvo, M. Placido, D. Westlake, L. Lo Cascio, L. Morante, Q. Tarantino, D. Argento, G. Salvatores, G. De Sio, R. Girone, M. G. Cucinotta, I. Ferrari, C. Penn, A. Perez-Reverte, P. Verhoeven, N. Ammaniti, etc …